Spinnaker going to II from RCI

[steve_solo]

Spinnaker told me that when I was at Hilton Head in May.
I never used RCI because of the high exchange fees and lack of availability.
Is Interval International any better and if so how?

 

[heitmullerj02]

II will pull a Marriott with my Sheraton property. I think the II resorts are nicer. I have not stayed @ Spinnaker so cannot compare. I just returned from HHI, stayed @ Marriott Sunset Pointe with trade from Vistana.

 

[heitmullerj02]

Originally I traded for Westin Maui, but after fire did not want to go. used Eplus to retrade, worth the extra Cost.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Spinnaker told me that when I was at Hilton Head in May.
I never used RCI because of the high exchange fees and lack of availability.
Is Interval International any better and if so how?

II is a lot better. Cheaper exchanges ($219), Marriott inventory is amazing, and RCI lacks a lot of the quality resorts that II has, including Disney, Westin, Sheraton (some Sheraton are in RCI), Hyatt and some others. The choice to go with II is a great one.

 

[nascartim]

Spinnaker told me that when I was at Hilton Head in May.
I never used RCI because of the high exchange fees and lack of availability.
Is Interval International any better and if so how?

They've actually been saying this for at least 5 years now. I think they are using it as a scare tactic to get you to switch over to II.

 

[jp10558]

Honestly, I might be the only person underwhelmed with II. It sounds like II is great as an exchange company, and if all you want to do is exchange your week that's great. RCI is much better IMHO as a cash Extra Vacations / Last Call company. The problem with an exchange is you have to have a week you are locked into paying for every year, the benefit of the Extra Vacations / Last Call is you can add weeks usually for less than MFs as you go - it's a great augmentation to owned weeks in any mini-system. I don't think you're likely to find exchanges that are a better value outside most of the mini system once you take in the $200+ exchange fee from both.

That said, Spinnaker I don't know of like a system, so if it's a more traditional timeshare, exchanging the week can be great with II.

 

[steve_solo]

They've actually been saying this for at least 5 years now. I think they are using it as a scare tactic to get you to switch over to II.

I am curious as how to how the scare tactic works. Right now I have RCI from my spinnaker timeshare. I suppose I pay it with maintenance fees.
Do they ask you to trade up , upgrade or what to get II?
I would gladly give up my RCI.
I already have RCI with Wyndham who owns RCI.

 

[tschwa2]

Spinnaker told me that when I was at Hilton Head in May.
I never used RCI because of the high exchange fees and lack of availability.
Is Interval International any better and if so how?

What Spinnaker? And did they tell you this at a sales meeting?

 

[steve_solo]

What Spinnaker? And did they tell you this at a sales meeting?

This is the Spinnaker that runs several timeshares in Hilton Head - Waterside, South Wind, Cottages, Egret Point and maybe Blue Water. They also have units in Ormond beach, Bransom and Williamsburg.
I didn't attend a sales meeting but they wanted me to so they could explain the switch to II.
Could very well have been a big lie.

 

[tschwa2]

This is the Spinnaker that runs several timeshares in Hilton Head - Waterside, South Wind, Cottages, Egret Point and maybe Blue Water. They also have units in Ormond beach, Bransom and Williamsburg.
I didn't attend a sales meeting but they wanted me to so they could explain the switch to II.
Could very well have been a big lie.

I think the switch to II is only if you buy something new. For years their flexible ownership options and float weeks at Bluewater have exchanged through II. If you are only hearing about it from someone trying to sign you for a sales meeting and not by the owner newsletter or a direct mailing, it is "new" the same way the people signing up people staying at Wyndhams are being told that Wyndham bought rci and if they are there on a rci exchange they need to hear about how they can get free exchanges.

There are a lot of Spinnaker owners who use II, but there are a lot of fixed week owners that use RCI and those with fixed weeks can't use II and those in the flex program can't use rci. So unless you buy something new, or hear about it directly from the resort and not from someone being paid from the sales department, it is unlikely that anything has changed.

 

[gravityrules]

Most of the Spinnaker resorts are shown in the II directory, I recently used an II exchange into Carolina Club on Hilton Head Island. I've heard of dual affiliation for a particular resort but having a mandatory RCI/II split based on whether the ownership is fixed or floating (if accurate) is yet another exchange wrinkle.

 

[dioxide45]

Honestly, I might be the only person underwhelmed with II. It sounds like II is great as an exchange company, and if all you want to do is exchange your week that's great. RCI is much better IMHO as a cash Extra Vacations / Last Call company. The problem with an exchange is you have to have a week you are locked into paying for every year, the benefit of the Extra Vacations / Last Call is you can add weeks usually for less than MFs as you go - it's a great augmentation to owned weeks in any mini-system. I don't think you're likely to find exchanges that are a better value outside most of the mini system once you take in the $200+ exchange fee from both.

That said, Spinnaker I don't know of like a system, so if it's a more traditional timeshare, exchanging the week can be great with II.

I think it comes down to quality and lead time. Sure Last Call in RCI is generally cheaper than II getaways, but Last Call is limited to only the next 45 days. An example, looking at a September date in Orlando, Sheraton Vistana Villages is about $650 for a 1BR where HGVC Tuscany Village is $900. This probably isn't the case across the board and I am sure when you compare resorts of different quality the numbers may swing the other way.

We tend to stay in mostly Sheraton, Westin & Marriott resorts but are now starting to venture out. Now that we have access to RCI we will start looking at RCI Last Call as we are generally able to travel last minute to locations in the southeast.

 

[jp10558]

I think it comes down to quality and lead time. Sure Last Call in RCI is generally cheaper than II getaways, but Last Call is limited to only the next 45 days. An example, looking at a September date in Orlando, Sheraton Vistana Villages is about $650 for a 1BR where HGVC Tuscany Village is $900. This probably isn't the case across the board and I am sure when you compare resorts of different quality the numbers may swing the other way.

We tend to stay in mostly Sheraton, Westin & Marriott resorts but are now starting to venture out. Now that we have access to RCI we will start looking at RCI Last Call as we are generally able to travel last minute to locations in the southeast.

I realized it's unclear, but I'm actually talking much more Extra Vacations that go out months and months - I personally haven't yet made a last call work (to my chagrin). I also realize it may be me only wanting 2BR+ and the basic lack of filtering on II for Getaways (or anything I think) that may also "hide" the deals. That said, most of the II 2BR Getaways are over $1,100 that are anywhere I'm interested in going, while I regularly find Extra Vacations on RCI on 2BR for sub $1,000. I think the most expensive one I've done was Wychnor Park at $960, 4 of them have been sub $650 (though this is before resort fees which might add $150 or so in some cases). It's also perhaps not the most in demand times, but I think Getaways are similar.

I'm still keeping my eyes out on both for sure.